Rise and Fall of the Shooting Star
by Nex Banwell
Summary: Two pilots once destined for death have their fates tied and their worlds changed forever . An Endless Waltz/ Macross:Battle12 crossover
1. prolouge

BATTLE 12

RISE AND FALL OF THE SHOOTING STAR

PROLOGUE

This story takes place in the Macross year 2052 and in the Gundam wing era AC 195

"Space, its funny that people love it so much......there are so many ways to die......"

"Heero its Libra ! she's still fallin!" Duo Maxwell screamed over the communicator, a short pause in comm lag allowed his thoughts once hidden within his clouded mind to surface. It's funny that he and his companions fought so hard to destroy the earth sphere and now there doing everything in their power to save it....funny as hell.

"Mission accepted!!!" Heero screamed as he pushes himself and his mobile suit to the absolute limit. Roaring through the atmosphere like Icarus falling towards the heavens. Along side him, the Earths worst nightmare, Libra. Even in its defeat, it continues its mission to destroy the earth. The hull burns and twists in its dance of destruction. May god have mercy on us all......

.................

"May god have mercy on all your souls!!" One man stands above all, a leader , a messiah , a madman. His long silver hair floats around his weathered face covered in blood, is uniform soaked red. He holds a semi automatic pistol, seven shells spent, points it to his head and fires.......

"L.T.!! That sunofabitch Jaxon activated the self destruct, we got ten minutes before we ALL join the void!" Lancer screams over the comm. He pushes his throttle full forward and turns toward the Battle 12, one of the last U.N.spacy Macross class vessels, soon to become extinct unless he and his partner can change the situation.

"Fuck!, Lutanent Banwell to Battle12, Battle12 respond! Captain Hayes!!!" Lutanent Nex Banwell, nearly broken up with fear, hurtles towards the Battle 12, his VF-19s Excalibur burns through space with the same desperation as its pilot."Banwell 6-6-3-9-2-5-7 override security command"

His computer responds"Voice print confirmed Override confirmed"

"PDC command, access B12 self destruct! "

"...Unable to comply, access command level gold..."

"Damn it!!" sweat pours down Nex's face, then suddenly an Idea appears in his mind. "Lancer, head for B12 and get to the bridge!"

"Excuse me sir!!??"Lancer almost wets his flight suit as he approaches the deck."Why??"

"Just do it buddy.. I got a plan" Nex takes off his helmet, and reaches for a small device imbedded into his right temple. The device is small and alien but part of him. He touches the device and suddenly his thoughts expand past his body and into the computer".....Interface....access command delta....control command access....access space fold drive....override."

...................

Relena peacecraft. Rich, Spoiled and obsessing. She had a chance encounter with a devil ronin who's mission was to destroy all the she held dear...and if she were to get in his way ,she would be his next target. On countless occasions did she try to stop his bloodshed and on countless did he threaten her life...

"So why didn't he kill me , why is he sacrificing himself for a world that doesn't want him."Relena runs toward the view monitor aboard the OZ asteroid base MO2 . The video feed from Noin fills the screens of every citizen of the earth and the colonies. The assassin of war now a guardian of peace hurtles towards earth, a fallen angel, Wing Zero.

Relena closes her eyes as tears flow down from her face."I love you Heero, please come back to me."

"Heero!!"

Fire burns all around his cockpit. The Heads Up Display offers no help as the targeting HUD bounces across the screen. Libra barrels towards him. The true face of death was revealed, Heero..was afraid...to die.

Gripping the controls sticks, he fights with the wing zero to stabilize. Images of people flowed through his mind as the heat rises inside his cockpit. "Trowa, Quatre, WuFei ,Duo ,Relena....Relena." He refused to believe what he allowed himself to think. Seconds pass like minutes as the image of her face reappears in his mind, memories of all the times he encountered that bothersome girl. "But why is she the one person I refused to let die. I guess if things were different...I could be in love....with her." The fear of death passed as that word touched his mind. Before he had nothing to go back to, just more bloodshed, but now...now its different."Imp tired of all this bullshit...no more running away from her..I will survive for her....I will.....I will...I WILL SURVIVE!!!!!"

A flash of light envelops around Heero and the Zero as a beam of energy surges from the twin buster rifles towards Libra. Strike true....immortal arrow.

................

"Nex, tminus 30 seconds until full core melt down!!" Lancer now aboard the bridge of the Battle12, screams but gets no answer."L.T.!!!!"

Nex Banwell uses that he has left in him to save his friends and crew. Seventeen thousand six hundred and thirty-two people rests in his hands as he tries desperately to save them." I hope this works!!, Computer activate Space Fold sequence, spatial grid -67216.3 by +21352 by 712303.3.!!" If he's right hopefully the space fold will drain the reactor and prevent total meltdown otherwise, as Nex puts it," I am so dead..."

The fold drive reactor glows blue with energy. All ship monitors flash with warning as B12 prepares for space fold. Lancer looks over to see the navigators helm as coordinates and grids fill the screen."Oh shit!!"

A blinding flash of energy surged throughout space. The hull of the Battle12 glows bright as a sphere of energy surrounds it along with Nex, His veritech is barely able to compensate for the stress. Then suddenly the monitors aboard the B12 flash red as the words "WARNING : ENERGY SURGE DETECTED, SPACE TIME DISRUPTED" blink across the screen. Lancer jumps towards the emergency shutdown controls.. but is too late.

Time and space bends itself around the crew of the B12, all is frozen. For the remainder of time the Battle12 remains in hyperspace Nex looks out into space as flashes of another fighter screams towards him "HOLY SHIT!!!!!....."

..................

Libra, the assassin of earth, enveloped within a massive explosion, disappears in a wave of energy. Cheers and roars fill the ears of every human in the earth sphere. Everyone applauded, the earth was saved. 

Lady Une walks over to Relena and places her hand on her shoulder "He was wonderful."

A spark of cold shoots through Relena as the debris clears, nothing came out. No words can reach her lips, only a whimper and a tear. She jerks around and wraps her arms around Lady Une. All Une can do is hold her, she strokes her hair as Relena bursts into tears.

Duo Maxwell froze in fear as the unthinkable happened." Heero....? NO!!!!!"

Trowa Barton fell to his knees, his fist makes contact with his forward monitor " Damn it..."

WuFei Chang gripped his controls a little tighter "He died with honor, we could be so lucky.."

Quatre Raberba Winner cringed unconsciously in Doherty's lap, aware of what happened. He murmured in his sleep."Heero...."

only silence filled their minds

the shooting star has fallen.

...............

Heero yui , twice fallen for the people he cared for .....sits in a void of colors and light, floating in a tunnel flowing towards some unknown destination. His mobile suit floats with him, unaware of the outcome.

The light brightens as streaks of energy fly past him....then suddenly..........nothing but empty space surrounds him....

Nex opens his eyes, and looks around "Hey it worked, Holyshit it worked!?!" But his happiness fades as he looks out into space. His HUD Blinks "BOGEY UNKNOWN SHALLOTTE"...Nex blinks.

Two pilots once destined for death now stare each other down, each as confused as the other.

"Who the hell is that?"

To be continued 


	2. when worlds collide

Rise and Fall of the Shooting Star

Chapter one

"When Worlds Collide"

"Fates a bitch... if there is such a thing as fate. All the calculations were correct, as I go over the mechanics in my head, I find no fault. Hell I even compensated for the the extra energy emitted by the reflex furnaces near meltdown....But as I stare into the void , with a battered B12 below me and a completely alien bogey floating ahead of me.... I cant help but ask........"

"what went wrong?"

"Lt, whatever you did it worked...reports are comming in from allover the ship...we have massive casualites. Nex...the captian..." Lancer chokes down the bile in his throat. "The captian is dead...and so is the rest of the bridge crew..." 

Lancer Bernard, Lutanent and second in command of Delta squadron, is usually a happy go lucky kinda guy. As he would say, "he tries to enjoy life at all times",...he dosn't seem to be enjoying himself now. The usual smile on his quarter Zentradi face bleed into a scowel as he turns over the body of the man who caused all of this. The blood ,still fresh. The body ,still warm .His eyes wide open ,screaming. His mouth draws a dead smile ,laughing. 

Lancer kneels down and grabs the corpse by the neck "Coward, bitch.....the bastard blew his own brains out..." A tear rolls down his frowned face " Damn it!"

His grip tightens as the flesh and bone in the corpse sprawles....and snaps.

Nex Banwell, Lutanent commander and leader of Delta squadron. When he's in the cockpit , he becomes intelligent, strong, calm, a leader. Outside, he goofs off , plays around and generly becomes ......a teenager. With the minute spance of time after Lancer's bad news, many adult ideas fill his allready troubled mind. Right now he'd rather revert into his goofy teenager self, but too many people counted on him.

Now is the time to act.

"Lancer, check the ships sensors, grid 673 by 72, twelve degrees off my nose."

Lance runs over to the sensors helm and activates the foward sensor array."What the hell?, Lt. unknown bogey, unknown shilloute, unknown fighter type....what the hell is that??"

Nex activates his communicator and sets it to a universal signal. He clears his throat and builds up his courage to face the unknown fighter infront of him."This is Lutanent commander Nex Banwell to unknown fighter. You are in violation of UN space , state your name and affilation."

.............

"Where......where am I?" Heero Yui pauses as he looks over to the scren in front of him,"Whats going on?" a faint red glow eminates from the foward consoul "A transmission?" He presses the radio button as the commanding voice barks over the speakers inside his cockpit. Still dazed from the stress of his eariler conflict, Heero ignores the order.

Suddenly as a shot in the head , Images fill his mind, hundreds then thousands! The battle with Libra replays over and over in his mind , his body relives the event as his muscles twist and bend, reflexing, reacting to the fight."ZERO!!! what are you trying to tell me!!!" Twisted and distorted images of the final act of desperiation over earth burn into Heero like a brand, searing his flesh as the pain shoots through him. He clenches his teeth and grinds them"Arrrg....Damn it Zero STOP!!!" Then with a final pause the entire cockpit glows red as a massive explosion envlops its pilot, the fire burns as the vaccume freeezes. Flesh turns to carbon as Heero lets out one final scream......and with that , its over.

"AHHHH!!!" Heero screams then stops to find himself intact "Zero are you trying to tell me that....im dead?" People and friends fill his mind now ,flashing in and out. They form a distorted painting, a colage of memories. Heeros muscles flex and tighten, his eyes dart from end to end. The hud flashes, Targeting sensors move across the screen, almost to fast to follow."Whats going on Zero! Stop this ZERO STOP IT NOW!!!" The targets settle as Heero pauses. He stares out to the view screen.....and what he saw.....scared him. Below him, staring him down , was Libra."God no ,Libra I didnt destroy it!" Flashes of the earths destruction fill his torn mind as the Zero system alerts him of his new goal. "Mission accepted."

..............

"I say agian to alien fighter..."Nex stops as his computer begins to track the alien craft "Shit, Lancer,Its headed towards you!!" Suddenly red lights and alarms blare inside the cockpot as an "ENEGRY SURGE" warning flashes on the hud. "Good crap!!that things forreal!!Lancer Raise Sheilds!!"

Lancer grabs the sheild command throttle and thrusts it foward with no result "No good, reactor reserve is gone were running on empt......"

Aflash of light and a massive explosion cascades off the left primary engine as the bandit circles around for the next attack.

"LANCER!!!!" Nex punches his throttle to the limit, his veritech bursts foward, screaming towards its attacker "Kemmer you sunovabitch!!" Nex squezzes the trigger as a volly of missles explode away, hunting down their target."COME GET SOME!!!"

Heero swings around, throttle at full. "Targeting their main weapon." The hud flashes, warning him of incomming missles."Is that all you got?" Heero decelerates and welcomes the attack "Bring... it...on."

"What the hell is he doing?" Nex pauses to watch his missles make contact with the bogey.

The Explosion is massive, every missle made contact. Nex relaxes as he stares into the fireball "Humm... too easy." He pushes his throttle foward and heads for the explosion.....then his fears came true "Holy crap its a variable fighter!" As the debries clears, the bird like fighter begins to change shape into an angel like being , in each hand are two massive beam cannons. Its wings flex as its eyes flare. Nex screams over the radio " I AM NOT IMPRESSED!" He twists the throttle and pulls it foward and with a flash the agile fighter transforms into an equally impressive manlike machine.

Heero stares out at the alien mobilesuit....and laughs."HA!HA! Is that all you got!" The images continue to flash in his mind, flashes of the battle over Libra, Hundreds of enemy mobile dolls circle around him "what!!" Heero begins to track the dolls surrounding him."I WILL NOT BE KILLED BY LIFELESS DOLLS!!!"The wingzero flexs and points its beam rifles to each side."I will NOT be killed..."He squeezes the triggers and fires"...by lifeless dolls."

The beams streak across the black void of space but hit nothing. Nex stares in awe "What in hell is it doing?" The wingzero continues its attack at nothing."Who does he think its fighting!" Wasting no oppertunity, Nex arms his second volley of missles and targets the bogey...then pauses..."Lets try somthing diffrient..." He bursts foward, headlong for the alien craft. "Lancer, Divert all the ships power to the macross cannon!!"

Lancer drops his jaw at the order given to him "What!!! we barely have enough reserve enegry to keep lifesupport, I allready lost artifical gravity!" He says as he sweeps the beads of sweat floating around his face. But without hesatation he reaches over to the powerflow controls and diverts the enegry then reaches into the captian and commanders jackets for the fireing codes.

Nex flies by the wingzero agian taunting it. "Dont Worry buddy i got a plan." Nex then diverts his words to the wingzero "Hey ASSHOLE, YEA YOU !" The Zero fires a malestrom of bullets but completely misses."HA! ALL THAT FANCY DESIGN AND THE MUTHAFUCKA STILL CANT HIT ME HAHAHA!!"

..................

Inside the Zero, The images of the dolls phase in and out of Heeros mind. He blinks his eyes and stares down at the targeting sphere in the center of his consoul. Nothing appeared on his sensors, no mobile dolls and no Libra. But as he looks up, he sees the flash of a mobile doll replaced by an unknown fighter screaming past him."What is going on?" he blinks"Whats wrong ZERO!" The hud flashes with enemy craft but the sensors,seperate from the zero system, show nothing. Then the memory of the destruction of Libra and the strange flash of light fills his mind. "Is the Zero system damaged?" This new found discovery takes a backseat as Heeros attention is grabbed by the massive alien starship below him, its bow sparks with ladent enegry "what??" Suddenly the zero is knocked around as an alien mobilesuit flies past him. The Zero system reactivates and targets the bogey"My...My enemy...?" The alien craft circles around and is suddenly replaced by the dark assasian..Epyon.

"Zechs!!!! Omae o koroso!!!"

..................

" Lt ! He's movin!!" Lancer imputs a series of commands converting the collected reflex enegry directly into the main weapon."3'oclock .2 klicks and ganing!"

"Just get that macross cannon online Lancer and soon! I cant exactly kill him by calling him a raging bastard! and that his moms a slut!!!" As Nex continues his onslaught of taunts troubling thoughts fill his head as he thinks to himself "_I just hope he's stupid enough to fall for this!"_ Nex's VF-19s transforms back into its agile fighter form and streaks towards the wingzero."Hey psycho you and I got somthing in common... were both hittin your sister!!!HAHAHA!!! come and catch me!!"

The VF-19 hurtles itself into action as the wingzero drops its beam rifles and reaches for its shoulder. A small cylinder emerges and ignites into a blade of blood red enegry. It glows bright agnist the darkness of space. The massive white wings extend from end to end as a faint glow eminates from them. Its eyes flash as its boosters burst, hurtling the wingzero towards its aggressor.

Nex stops and transforms into gerwalk and immeadly decelerates, the continues the change to soilder mode barely dodging the beamsabre attack. He aims his GU-15 gunpod and fires a burst of rounds. The wingzero returns the favor and fires off its shoulder guns. Nex blocks with his sheild, barely able to withstand the attack, he presses on.

"Lt, Macross cannon at 73 precent ! If you can hold it off for another minute or so..."Lancer screams over the comm.

"ONE MINUTE!!" as the zero makes contact with him, knocking him around in his cockpit"Ill be lucky if i survive the next ten seconds!" Nex throttles back as he grabs the wing zero's arm, then thrusts full foward hurtling the alien craft towards the B12. Heero easily regains control and resumes his attack.

"I Will Kill you Zechs!!" Heero bursts foward and tackles the VF-19, shattering its sheild. But Nex uses this oppertunity and shoves his gunpod into the chest of the wingzero.

"What the hell is wrong with you ya jackass!!" Nex unloads his clip into the zero's chest, flips over the damages suit and grapples its arms."Lancer STATUS!!"

" 93 precent! Just twenty more seconds!! Lancer stares down the status bar and screams at it "Goddamn it hurry the hell up!!!

Nex screams over the communicator to the wing zero "I dont know who the hell you are but you picked the wrong pilot to fuck with!!" The VF-19 presses its feet into the back of the zero and bursts its thrusters, tossing it towards the B12 "When you get to the void tell'em NEX SENT YA!! with that he launches the final volley of missles at the zero."LANCER FIRE!!!"

Lancer stands above the weapons helm and punches the fireing button 

"ha! bitch."

The Battle 12's main cannon explodes as a massive beam of enegry surges towards the battered wingzero. Heero stares down the massive beam, his eyes wide open as a bright white light envlopes all around him. No words leave his mouth, only silence.

Nex stares down the surge of enegry at a safe distance as a massive explosion eminates from its center." Hoorah!! we got the bastard!" Nex sits back and relaxes as his veritech hovers in the night.

Lancer sits back in the captians chair and closes his eyes "That was too close."

As nex prepares to head back to the Battle12, he turns around to take one last look. the explosion begins to fade as the debris clears....Nex is in shock "No fuckin way." There floating within the rubble, the enemy mobilesuit unfolds its sheilding wings and stares Nex down...then suddenly its eyes fade out as it hovers motionless. "Holyshit how did it survive?!" Nex activates his comm "Nex Banwell to Battle 12 , prep the med lab and get the hanger crew ready for standby, Im bringing this thing and its pilot in."

Heero sits inside the Zero's cockpot totaly motionless. He is barely able to open his eyes as he looks at the foward screen. the word "MALFUNCTION" flashes brightly as Heero shuts his eyes... and passes out.

to be continued. 


	3. Light Arives ,Death falls

Rise and fall of the Shooting star 

Chapter 2

"Light Arrives Death Falls"

"Ok sir....16 degrees......descend.....20 meters....15.....10.....5......launch nets!!!"The hanger commander shouts out the orders and takes a drag from his cigarette, then turns to the hanger doors...and stares in awe at what he saw. "Christ what a mess...Hanger crew to standby, fire crew to standby." The entire hanger crew rush to standby positions as the massive nets shoot up from the deck. The commander tosses his cigarette and attaches the helmet to his EVA suit "this is hanger 3 to bridge...ready"

"Rodger hanger, Bridge to Med lab...you are cleared to proceeded to Hanger 3. Bridge to all security personnel red alert, proceed to Hanger 3...Bridge out."Lancer sits back in the communication officer's chair. He looks over to the now empty captains chair and closes his eyes..."Murphy strikes again...."

Nex struggles with the controls as he transforms from solider mode to gerwalk, the engines in his VF-19 slow his decent"Crap stay still.... stay still damn it!" The Attitude gauge beings to pitch "Shit..Shit....!!" Nex fights with the control stick to the bitter end as his VF-19 tilts over and smashes into the massive nets. The enemy craft on his back rolls off and smashes into the deck.

Swarms of technicians and fire crew float towards the crash site as Nex blows the cockpit away. Engineers approach him

"Sir are you OK?!"As the crewmember detaches Nex's harness.

Nex removes his helmet and gives a thumbs up then points towards the alien craft"Where's this goddamn thing's cockpit!!"

The hanger crew responds "Well sir the head appears to be its sensor cluster.."

Nex interrupts "And Im guessin its not in its crotch right! Nex to Razek, join me at the crafts mid section". The hanger crew's attention is now drawn to the alien craft lying on its back. Its massive wings take up most of the area as hanger crew fined it difficult to maneuver through the rubble.

Nex leaps out of his cockpit and reaches for his sidearm."Nex to Razek where are you!"

A team of security officers rush in and scramble towards the alien craft. They are followed by a large and muscular man, A scowl draws over his face as he cock his sidearm" I'm right here sir. Alpha team secure the craft, set all stun guns to maximum." 

But as Razek sets to approach the alien's mid section, through the crowd of crewmen, a lone voice screams through"Out of my way Razek, There's an injured man in that thing!" Dr Lia Chen shoves Razek aside and runs toward the enemy craft with her team of doctors and nurses trailing behind her. She leaps on to one of the elevator pads and climbs toward the mid section of the alien craft.

Nex leaps and tackles the doctor and stands back up" Hold off doc! We don't know what the hell is in that thing!" Nex turns and joins Razek on the alien craft mid section guns pointed at what appears to be a hatch. Nex eyes down towards a leaver on the hatch's side as Razek reaches down towards it.

Nex screams down"Were blowin the hatch! " Each security member points their weapons towards the craft as Nex braces himself. Razek pulls the lever as the hatch blows away. smoke billows out of the cockpit as Nex and Razek activate the laser dots on their handguns. 

The smoke clears away as Nex freezes in amazement" What!! that's it!!" He holsters his sidearm as the med team approaches the alien cockpit. "I cant believe that I got my ass kicked by a kid!! damnit!" 

Dr Chen reaches inside the cockpit and gently pulls the unknown assailant out and places him on a stretcher. She reaches into her med kit and pulls out a scanning device. She sweeps it over his head and torso"No doubt about it he's human male 16 years old....Im reading massive internal head trauma, elevated levels of seratonin and adrenalin, high activity in the frontal lobe...strange."She presses down on his chest "Four broken ribs..."she puts the scanner away"...prep the ER for surgery one male human adolescent code blue!!" The nurses scramble as they lower the boy onto a gurney and wheel him to the med lab. 

Razek calls over his team"Follow them I want a full detachment on that kid's ass now!"

As the team of medics prep the boy for surgery, Nex removes his flight suit "You guys do something with that thing ....Ill be on the bridge." 

As Nex floats towards the hanger exit a crewman approaches him and salutes "Sir about the captain...is he ok?" Nex looks down. The crewman then asks again"What about my brother sir? Lt. Siccro?"

Nex puts his hand on the young crewman's shoulder "I'm sorry...." Nex walks over to the gravlift and proceeds to the bridge as the widowed crewman falls to his knees and floats away.

..........................

"Wha...ugg...where am I ?""Bright lights, I smell iodine....I must be in a hospital." Heero yui lies in a med lab bed, strapped down tight, barely aware of his surroundings. Sharp pain shoots through him as he struggles with the straps. He cringes and grits his teeth "Ribs must be broken....no good." As Heero scans his eyes around the room , the doors open, a nurse enters. She walks over to Heero's bed and grabs his chart unaware that he is awake. Heero thinks to himself "_she must be a nurse ...."_ he looks over to the door "_two guards...9mm pistols....security camera...."_ The nurse walks over as Heero rears his head up "Where am I"

The nurse drops the chart in fear and runs out of the room. Heero remains still. The door opens again as Dr Chen and two other nurses enter. Heero asks again "Where am I".

Dr Chen walks over and begins to scan the young boy."Remarkable.....simply remarkable his wounds healed very quickly and he's responding well to the medication." The nurses take notes as they continue their duty. Dr Chen looks over to the young boy and responds "You are aboard the UNS Agamemnon med lab facility. I'm doctor Chen . Can you tell me your name and place of origin?."

Heero puts his head down "My name is Heero yui and where I'm from is not important. How did I get ....."

His words are cut off as Dr Chen activates her wrist communicator "Sir he's awake"

The radio responds "Rodger that doc. Razek and myself are on our way .

Heero asks the question again "How did I get here."

Dr Chen checks his pupils and answers his question."Don't you know, you attacked us first." 

Heero draws a confused look on his face " What attack?...."gradually images begin to fill his mind, images of the five gundams, Epyon and the fall of Libra "Libra!!, did I destroy Libra!" Heero attempts to violently struggle free from his bonds as the two security officers surround him and hold him down.

Dr Chen screams out "Anesthetic now! put him under!" A nurse reaches over to administer the injection as Heero dislocates his shoulder and slips free. He punches the nurse , knocking her to the ground reaching for her broken nose. Heero angrily pushes a security guard aside and grabs his handgun and grabs the injured nurse. 

Heero points the handgun to her head."I will not kill her just back away" As Heero painfully stands out of bed and drags the nurse out of the room, he palms a small cylinder. 

Heero cringes as the nurse cries in panic and pain "Please...please don't kill me...please..." Heero ignores her plea for her life as he exits the med lab. But just as Heero slowly limps down the hall , Razek followed by ten of his best men close off his escape. They each arm their MP5 semi auto rifles and aim for the assailant.

"Freeze Scumbag!!" Razek steps forward as Heero presses the gun harder into his victims head. Razek pauses " Put the gun down and let Nurse Jenna go . She has children....." Razek slowly reaches down for his waist as Heero drops the small cylinder.

Heero throws the nurse down and shoots the cylinder as a shroud of gas billows into the hall . Heero holsters his gun and charges past Razek ,and in the chaos , steals his security card. 

As Heero exits the smoke he thinks to himself "_I have got to get the HELL out of here..." _Heero crosses down another hallway "_Damnit this place is a maze" _ Heero jogs down the hall as the pain from his ribcage catches up with him._ " Agg...My mobile suits too damaged....going to have to steal a shuttle." _ Heero stops and ducks behind a bulkhead as two guards run past him in the opposite direction. Suddenly his attention is drawn to the sign above his head that reads "Terminal Access." Heero Raises an eyebrow at the incredible luck "Maybe I can get some answers." Heero pauses then enters.

...........................

Aboard the Bridge, Nex walks In with a Sigh as Lancer places the last corpse into its body bag. Lancer stands up and faces Nex. He reaches into his pocket and places a set of gold bars into Nex's hand."As second highest ranked officer aboard the U.N.S Agamemnon I herebyaward you with the temporary rank of captain....." Nex stops his friend and turns around...

"I cant do this Lance..."

"You no longer have the choice Nex. Right now you are the highest ranking officer aboard and according to the helm...its gonna be awhile before we reach any outpost or colony fleet.." Lancer pauses and looks behind a reluctant Nex to a winded doctor Chen standing in the doorway.

"Nex we have a problem.."

Lancer hands Nex the gold bars. He pauses for a second....and pins it to his uniform. Nex turns around and looks Dr Chen into her eyes."What's the situation."

............................

"Humm......Ship roster....."Heero sits alone in the small terminal room, the only source of light is the faint blue glow from the computer monitor. "Captain Jadrian Madison Born January 12, 2007?!?!.....Second in command Commander Sheryl Diaz born August 17 2012....." So many confusing ideas fill his mind as he continues to read. "What the hell, the calendar is on the AD timeline not AC....Human colonization began on Mars? and some planet called New Eden.... Accessing Earth History....."

Heero begins to read to himself "In this place the year 1999 an alien craft crashed on earth. At the time earth was at war. A new type of weapon was introduced.....the mobile suit..." Heero sighs uncomfortably and reads on. "When the craft crashed a cease fire was declared and the earth nations formed a united earth government." Images of the crashed ship appear on the monitor."An alien race?" The memory of the large security chief enters his mind. "He must have been one of them...." Heero places his head in his hands "This is too much" All of Heero's military training, all of his experience , nothing could have prepared him for what he thinks happened to him. "All of my life.....all that I know....." as the memory of Relena flashes into his questioning mind "gone."

Suddenly bright white light fills the room as the doors are forced open. Standing in the doorway is Razek with a gun pointed to Heero's head "Hands in the air now!!!"

Heero puts his hands up and turns around slowly "There is no need for that I'm not going anywhere" Razek Places handcuffs on Heero's wrists and violently turns him around. Two security guards grab the assailant and escort him to the brig. Razek speaks into his radio but is cut off as the words "Captain on deck !" ring in his ears, He immediacy stands at attention and is taken by surprise as Nex approaches Heero.

"You got a lot of FUCKING NERVE!!!" Nex relieves the stress of his day into that scream and takes a deep breath as Lancer, Razek and Dr Chen are frozen in amazement. Nex never looses his temper. Nex continues as Heero stands at attention, unwavered.

But just as Nex begins another rant, Dr Chen places her hand on his shoulder and steps forward.

"He seems confused sir , like he doesn't belong here...."

"Well he's gonna get a lot of time to consider his surroundings in the brig!" 

Heero interups "Your doctor is right. I don't belong here."

Lancer approaches Nex "Look , maybe we should think about this..."Nex immediantly interrupts

"How about this guy thinks about the ass whoppin he's about to get, its along way to the brig from here"

Dr Chen squeezes on Nex's shoulder and whispers in his ear "_Calm down Nex, no public floggings!"_

Nex breathes in deeply "Look, just take him to the brig, Ill be there to question him later....Ill be on the bridge."

Razek immediately salutes "Yes sir."

.........................

As Dr Chen enters the med lab, the bodies of the former bridge crew are wheeled in. She presses aganist the bridge of her nose underneath her glasses and takes her pad , noting each body and freezes. She knew there was no way that he could have survived but always, a glimmer of hope made her believe that maybe, just maybe, he was still alive. The memories of them two on the promenade enjoying a quiet meal, playing "scramble valkyrie" in the rec center, and sharing intimacies within the warm confines of her quarters. She grabs her face in terror, quiet tears streams down her face. Her trembling hand reaches for him but falls short of the body bag. The pain of loss acts like a weight as she falls to her knees. "God Max...please....I'm so sorry.."

Her team of nurses act like a buffer as they crowd around her."Its ok mam we can handle it from here" The soft words from the young nurse ring in the Doctors ears."Come on Ill take you to you quarters Dr Juarez can handle it." She walks the Doctor down the hall and looks over to her , a sigh draws on her face "I'm so sorry mam, we all know how much he meant to you. Try to get some sleep."

Dr Chen wipes the tears off her face "I will Jessica I will." But just as she walks back to the med lab, Chen stops and turns the other way "_I cant sleep, not yet. He's gonna need me "_

.............................

The captain's quarters aboard the Agamemnon is a sight to behold. The walls are covered with pictures of the former captain's family and his home in Iowa. Nex to those are pictures of the bridge crew, First officer Diaz, Lieutenant Commander Jake Cirrico, Lieutenant Maximillian Bright, Lieutenant Lisa Yaori and Ensign Gina Mesa. All were like a second family to him, indeed they were. Then next to them, in a gold frame Is a picture Nex will never forget. He takes the picture down and sits down in the capti...his chair.

The door sounds an approach, Nex looks over and resumes looking into the picture "Enter."

"Hey dude." Lancer walks in holding a case of beers. He tosses one over to Nex and walks forward. "You busy?"

"No...not really just inventorying the captains stuff....I came across this." Nex opens his beer and hands lancer the picture.

"Hey I remember this, That was the same day the Captain went joyriding with us when we first got the VF19's," Lancer lets out a chuckle "That was also the same day you got your first command. bastard."

"Hey! Nutz to you"

"I'm just kidding. Actually I'm glad you got it. Like I want to deal with all that responsibility. But you got to admit..." as he hands back the picture "He was like a dad to us, He treated us, all of us like his own sons and daughters."

Nex swills back a sip of the beer and rears the chair back " Sir.....damn I wish I knew what to do.....If you could only tell me what to do....Like anyone really expects me to take your place."

The door opens again as the voice of a saddened Lia Chen enters, "They are big shoes to fill aren't they, lil' bro." She walks over to the two and grabs a beer. "Thank god for oxy-pills , I could drink a keg and still not get drunk." Nex looks up to her and smiles

"I think UN spacy will forgive us if we get drunk now. Unless we do what we did the last time..."

Lancer interrupts "No way we nearly got court marshaled for it. " 

Nex bursts into laughter "There was panties and shaving cream everywhere."

Lia raises an eyebrow "I'm sure I don't want to know."

Nex closes his eyes " When the captain found out, he had us locked in the brig for like a week. But I remember what he said to me and lancer.

Lancer and Nex join in unison "Ensigns , panties ,toiletries and homemade air cannons do not MIX!!" They burst into laughter as Lia takes another sarcastic swill of beer."you two are impossible, I might as well prep med lab now!"a chuckle leaves her now growing smile "Knowing you two you just might build an air cannon big enough to shoot Meltrandi panties!!"

Nex leans over "I'm sure Razek wouldn't mind that!!"

The laughter continues into the night, each of the close friends exchanging stories of the time before all this saddens. In their own way they mourn for the loss of their friends. The clock strikes 2 as Lancer and Lia both leave the captains quarters with a slurred "Goodnight." Nex leans back and closes his eyes, he places the picture of Lancer, Himself and the captain standing in front of the bridge, each member of the lost crew sits behind them smiling "Bye guys, Goodbye sir."

To be continued 


End file.
